Febrile seizures: etiology, prevalence, and geographical variation

Abstract

Objective: Febrile seizures (FSs) are the most common neurological disorder observed in the pediatric age group. The present study provides information about epidemiological and clinical characteristics as well as risk factors associated with FS among Iranian children.

Materials & methods: On the computerized literature valid databases, the FS prevalence and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using a random effects model. A metaregression analysis was introduced to explore heterogeneity between studies. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using Stata10.

Results: The important viral or bacterial infection causes of FSs were; recent upper respiratory infection 42.3% (95% CI: 37.2%-47.4%), gastroenteritis21.5% (95% CI: 13.6%-29.4%), and otitis media nfections15.2% (95% CI: 9.8%- 20.7%) respectively. The pooled prevalence rate of FS among other childhood convulsions was 47.9% (95% CI: 38.8-59.9%). The meta-regression analysis showed that the sample size does not significantly affect heterogeneity for the factor 'prevalence FS'.

Conclusion: Almost half of all childhood convulsions among Iranian children are associated with Febrile seizure.

Keywords: Febrile seizure; Iran; Meta–analysis; Pediatrics.

Fig 1

Results of the systematic literature search

Fig 2

Forest plots of recurrent FS for random effects meta–analyses